Foot warmers on top?

[--M.]

Why do (chemical) foot warmer instructions indicate placement under the ball of the foot and not atop it? I don't like having yet another layer in there (let alone one that doesn't run the whole length) and under-foot is worse. What's wrong with putting them on top?

I guess I'll try it out and see, but do any have experience in this area?

Thanks,

--Mike.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Why do (chemical) foot warmer instructions indicate placement under the ball of the foot and not atop it? I don't like having yet another layer in there (let alone one that doesn't run the whole length) and under-foot is worse. What's wrong with putting them on top?

I guess I'll try it out and see, but do any have experience in this area?

Thanks,

--Mike.

I've never put them on top, they are thin enough that if I put them on correctly, they do not bother me, I guess YMMV.

To my mind, the cold is coming from the ground, and that's where my toes get cold, so that's where I wear them. I suspect it might work either way though.

 

[JustJoe]

I get cold toes, always have. For some reason it took until last winter to try toe warmers. I always wear 2 pairs of socks when it's below 32. A light smartwool with a medium smartwool over those. From the start, I've always put the warmers between the 2 pairs, over my toes. It has worked great. Only once has one shifted. Which just so happens it was my last hike of Isolation a couple weeks ago. It moved forward into tip of the boot giving my some toe jamming on the way down. But that's the first time it's happened.

I have not had cold toes since I've started doing this.

 

[MadRiver]

I do not like the feel of toe warmers directly under my foot, especially after a 10+ mile hike so I place the warmer under my orthotic. Granted it might not be as warm, but it warms the orthotic and then my foot.

 

[Adventurous]

I've been using toe warmers since I started skiing over 10 years ago. The first time I purchased them - the woman at the ski shop told me to put them on top of my sock and not to listen to the directions on the package. They won't shift and it allows them to get the air they need to stay warm. I've used them on top of my sock for hiking as well and they've kept my toes reasonably warm.

 

[--M.]

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for (free data!). I wanted to know the downside (so to speak) of putting them differently, I'll give it a try. --Mike.

 

[natron]

on top!

I use to put them below, I get very cold toes!! One day on mt.w. hiking all day and riding all day in my snowboard boots, I had them under the toe/balls of my feet.. I had temporary nerve damage, like my foot was temporarily numb for 6 months!! talked to some ortho. dr.'s that I work with, appears that due to the pressure a major nerve had been damaged.. So, now I go ontop..

 

[Gremlin]

IMO, they go on top (the instep) because that's where your blood vessels are. Likewise hand warmers go on the back of your hands. I don't use either (having tried them); if your feet are cold put on your tuque and your hood.

Doug

 

[Tom Rankin]

IMO, they go on top (the instep) because that's where your blood vessels are. Likewise hand warmers go on the back of your hands. I don't use either (having tried them); if your feet are cold put on your tuque and your hood.

Doug

It's not the backs of my fingers that feel cold, it's the front, but maybe that's due to the abundance of nerve endings in my fingertips.

And if you have Raynaud's Syndrome, that (tuque and hood) doesn't work.

 

[TomD]

I have these-
http://www.heatfactory.com/english/product.php?cat=3&id=47
They make a flat one as well.

The orthotics are licensed from Superfeet. The footbed has a slot under the ball of the foot with a small piece of foam in it. For cold feet, you remove the foam and insert the matching chem pack. I have only used the heat packs a time or two in ski boots. I was renting the boots, so I just pulled out the original footbeds, put in the orthotics and off I went. When I was done, I just took them out, put the foam piece back in and tossed the pack.

Unlike just putting the pack in the boot under a sock, with the orthotic (probably the same with the flat version), you don't feel the pack because it is a part of the orthotic.

With the heat pack, the boots were very warm, almost too warm because it wasn't all that cold, but for colder weather, I think they would have been perfect.

 

[Niltiac]

They don't want you to put them on top because the skin the top of your feet is significantly thinner and more sensitive. In theory if you put them directly on top of your feet, without socks, and without ventilation, it could result in a burn. In order to be safe and protect themselves as a company, the say put on the bottom where there are less nerve endings and most likely a calus of some degree.

 

[--M.]

They don't want you to put them on top because the skin the top of your feet is significantly thinner and more sensitive. In theory if you put them directly on top of your feet, without socks, and without ventilation, it could result in a burn. In order to be safe and protect themselves as a company, the say put on the bottom where there are less nerve endings and most likely a calus of some degree.

Ah, this is what I was after: what's the downside warning? So, anecdotally, we have testimony from users that, assuming a sock layer (nested 'tween two seems the play), people are using them on top with no negative consequences, is that right? Do people primarily (1) nest them or (2) place them atop both pairs and just under the boot-leather?

Thanks, Niltiac!

 

[--M.]

Oh, uh, I guess I should follow up: I used the foot-warmers adhered to the top of my outer (heavy wool) socks all weekend (different socks, different warmers, each day), in the Carter Range, on Mount Tremont and on Lonesome Lake. While I have definitely found the lower limit for my Limmers, the warmers stayed put and helped appreciably (if not definitively), while on top of, not beneath, my foot. When combined with good food and proper continuous exertion, my feet remained tolerably not-too-cold (I really can't say they were too warm!). I used either Microspikes or Lightning Ascents the whole time. Snowshoes help with cold by keeping one's feet off the track surface, imo.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I'm surprised to find that they work so well tuck so far inside socks and boots. I know that if I use hand warmers inside mittens and close the drawstrings around my wrists, they do not get very warm at all from an (apparent) lack of oxygen.

Tim

 

[Tom Rankin]

I did not re-read the whole thread, but I would expect more heat to be lost thru the top of the boot then thru the bottom of the boot.

Tim: Strange as it may seem, they work down in my boots pretty well.

I have 2 glove systems: For milder weather, liners under glove-mitts. This is a very 'open' system. For colder temps, liners under heavy mittens, cinched up fairly tight. Either way, it seems that they still generate adequate heat, unless you were hiking on Sunday!

 

[TCD]

I hiked on Sunday - nice and chilly. I tested the "top vs. bottom" discussion here. I was wearing Salomon Toundra boots with wool socks. I put a toe warmer under the toes of my right foot, and on top of the toes of my left foot. Each was stuck to the outside of the sock.

Both my feet had warm toes throughout the hike. Of course there are many variables, and that's not a lot of data, but nothing obvoiusly adverse happened to either foot.